Cemetery Church of St. John in Hoçë e Madhe

The Church of St. John in Hoçë e Madhe is located on a hill at the eastern entrance of the village. According to the frescoes inside the church, it is believed to have been built in the VIX century. It is among the important religious, historical and cultural monuments of the village. The Church of St. John has an unusual architecture: the church has the form of a tetraconch, with a square narthex. The side apses are lower than those in the east and west. The naos and the narthex have a semicircular vault. The apses are polygonal on the outside and semicircular on the inside. At the end of the 16th century the church was renovated, and its interior was painted. The frescoes have biblical content, and the iconographic program of the frescoes in the narthex, with an interesting selection of scenes, emphasizes the message of the prayer addressed to Christ.
On the eastern wall of the narthex, in the Deisis composition, the Mother of God and St. John pray to Christ to be a gentle judge at the “Last Judgment”, which is painted on the western wall. The portrait of the patron saint is painted in a chamber above the entrance to the naos, and scenes from his life are illustrated in the upper zones of the narthex.
The frescoes of the Church of St. John were conserved in 1975.